NFL

It's an indication the Cardinals plan to keep first-round pick Jonathan Cooper at his college position of left guard, even though Cooper was running with the second-team offense Tuesday. Colledge has been a left guard throughout his career, but the Cardinals must trust he can make the transition. They could just be experimenting, of course. We might not get a clear idea of how things will shake out along the Birds' line before training camp.

It's part of new coach Bruce Arians' pledge to move Fitzgerald all over the field in an effort to get him more open looks. Former coach Ken Whisenhunt flipped Fitz from side-to-side last season, but rarely used him in the slot. Arians followed a similar blueprint as he helped coax a bounce-back campaign out of Reggie Wayne in 2012. Moving Fitzgerald around should certainly help, but Carson Palmer's play will be by far the most important factor of a potential turnaround. We like Fitz's chances of getting back on track.

Recent signee Karlos Dansby was with the first team. It's a loud and clear message from the Cardinals' new braintrust that their patience is wearing thin with the troublemaking Washington. Suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the league's substance-abuse policy, Washington could be banned additional games after he was arrested for domestic assault earlier this month. A budding superstar, Washington will return to a starting job whenever he's finally allowed back, but he can't afford any more off-the-field slip-ups.

Cason has been a starter each of the past three seasons, but it's not a surprise after Powers brought home a three-year, $10.5 million deal compared to Cason's one-year, $2 million pact. Cason could fall back to dime duties with Javier Arenas highly experienced in the slot. A rangy press corner, Cason is best suited to the outside. The Cards are deep at cornerback one year after being thin.

Taylor will be the only Cardinal on the entire roster not in attendance Tuesday. It's not his fault, but it's also not the best way to kick off a career. Taylor projects to eventually be part of a tight battle for snaps with Rashard Mendenhall, Ryan Williams and Andre Ellington.

Minter is a violent, attacking linebacker who excels against the run. As Daryl Washington serves out his suspension, Minter is all but locked into a starting role next to Karlos Dansby in Todd Bowles' 3-4 defense.

Rashard Mendenhall may be the slight favorite as he had his best years under Arians in Pittsburgh and will be roughly 20 months removed from his ACL tear when Week 1 rolls around. But Ryan Williams, Stepfan Taylor and Andre Ellington will all be in the mix as well. "You really can't tell until the lights come on," Arians said. "Some were different from this morning's walkthrough to the afternoon practice. Until you turn the lights on, you really don't know about them."